Althouse: "Nasa video footage shows what the moon would look like as it rotates. The images are impossible to witness from Earth..."

September 22, 2013

"Nasa video footage shows what the moon would look like as it rotates. The images are impossible to witness from Earth..."

"... because the moon is 'tidally locked' to it, meaning only one of its faces ever points toward the planet. These timelapse pictures were captured using Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which circles the moon at an altitude of 50km."

10 comments:

JackOfVA said...: Due to libration you can see a bit more than 50% of the lunar surface from earth - 59% to be exact - over time.; 9/22/13, 10:09 AM
Anonymous said...: In the World of "Logan's Run" You Couldn't See the Moon Because Everyone Lived in Domes.

Connecting the Dots.; 9/22/13, 10:13 AM
Gabriel Hanna said...: Near the turn of the 20th century, Scientific American had so many letters to the editor arguing about whether or not the moon "rotates" that they actually started a periodical devoted entirely to that question, at least one issue of which was published.

That the moon rotates, and that we see only one side of it, is not a contradiction--you simply have to look at the situation from from above the Earth-Moon plane.; 9/22/13, 10:16 AM
Gabriel Hanna said...: Near the turn of the 20th century, Scientific American had so many letters to the editor arguing about whether or not the moon "rotates" that they actually started a periodical devoted entirely to that question, at least one issue of which was published.

That the moon rotates, and that we see only one side of it, is not a contradiction--you simply have to look at the situation from from above the Earth-Moon plane.; 9/22/13, 10:17 AM
A. Shmendrik said...: Granted, it's in rough shape. But with the right improvements, I think you'd you be very happy there. So, what do you folks think? Do I write it up?; 9/22/13, 10:22 AM
Anonymous said...: 1977: "Capricorn One": NASA Fakes a Mars Landing. Mars is a Dog Whistle Here: Everyone Knows They Are Talking About the Moon Landing. The Moon is Cheese and Lies.

Also,

OJ Simpson Was in The Movie; Everyone Knows NASA Killed His Wife.

NASA: Yep, We Developed the Magic Bullet.; 9/22/13, 10:26 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Thanks, moon. for taking all those hits for us.; 9/22/13, 10:57 AM
Amexpat said...: Did Pink Floyd get it wrong?; 9/22/13, 11:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Thanks to JackOfVA, I looked up "libration" and found a very cool animated GIF of it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libration; 9/22/13, 1:33 PM
Witt's End said...: Professor, you might enjoy this related astronomical post: Today is the autumnal equinox - egg balancing, quotes, poems, Nat King Cole and Vivaldi. http://vaviper.blogspot.com/2013/09/tomorrow-is-autumnal-equinox-quotes.html; 9/22/13, 3:48 PM